Stamp of approval for stalwart

Leading Perth postal historian Tony Cochrane has been awarded an honorary life membership by Perth Philatelic Society after an extraordinary 57 years as a member.

Mr Cochrane, 73, joined the society in 1959 as a teenager, taking along a single album of stamps left to him by an uncle.

Meetings were held then in the masonic hall in King Street, and he played an active role in the club’s affairs – twice serving as president – as it moved for varying periods to the Guild Hall, Perth Museum, St John’s Kirk hall, the Station Hotel, the Waverley Hotel, the masonic lodge, the RASC Club and then to its present home, the West End Bowling Club in Craigie’s Gray Street.

Club president Norman Watson paid tribute to Mr Cochrane’s 57 years of loyal and distinguished service to the society and to philately in Scotland.

“Tony has been, and is, an important and respected figure in Scottish philately,” he said.

“He is a hugely knowledgeable postal historian, particularly on mail sent during military campaigns, and he has shown wonderful collections of stamps and postal history to fellow societies around the country as well as successfully competing at national level.”

Mr Cochrane will show material from the Indian Mutiny at the opening meeting of the season at the West End Bowling Club on Thursday, at 7.30pm. New members welcome.